NHS will not fund new drug to slow Alzheimer’s

A new drug that slows the tempo of Alzheimer’s illness is simply too costly for too little profit to be used on the NHS, the medicine spending watchdog says.

Donanemab was hailed as a turning level within the illness final yr.

But the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) stated it offered solely a small profit to sufferers.

And got here with enormous prices together with the worth of the drug and monitoring for important side-effects together with mind swelling.

People do not get higher on donanemab. It is not a remedy for Alzheimer’s illness, but it surely slows the development of the illness.

It works by clearing a sticky protein from the mind – known as amyloid – which is among the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.

The drug was earlier given a licence to be used within the UK, which suggests it may be prescribed privately.

However, NICE has dominated it will not be a very good use of taxpayers’ cash and was five-to-six instances dearer than the NHS usually considers acceptable.

It stated the drug slowed cognitive decline by 4 to seven months in trials.

“This is just not enough benefit to justify the additional cost to the NHS,” said Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at NICE.

“I know this will be disappointing news, but this is an emerging field of medicine and there are other treatments being developed.”

It is estimated that around 70,000 adults in England would have been eligible for treatment with donanemab.

Another drug to slow Alzheimer’s was found to be too costly for the NHS in the summer.

Prof Fiona Carragher, from the Alzheimer’s Society, said these drugs offered a “new horizon of hope within the combat in opposition to dementia”.

She described the decision as “disheartening” but said the organisation respected the decision not to fund it on the NHS.

Prof Tara Spires-Jones, the president of the British Neuroscience Association, said: “While people living with dementia and their loved ones will undoubtedly be disappointed by the decision not to fund this new treatment on the NHS, the good news that new treatments can slow disease even a small amount is hopeful.”